1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a female terminal, having a pair of resilient strip portions, and an electric connector provided with these female terminals, and more particularly to a female terminal formed by bending a single shaped metal sheet of electrical conductivity and an electric connector provided with these female terminals.
2. Related Art
Female terminals are received in a housing to form various electric connectors, and one example of such female terminals is the type of female terminal including a pair of resilient piece portions, and a male terminal is inserted between the pair of resilient piece portions. Each of the pair of resilient piece portions has a strip-like shape, and is supported by a support portion in a cantilever manner, and these resilient piece portions are shaped such that their opposed surfaces are the closest to each other at their distal end portions. The male terminal, inserted between the pair of resilient piece portions, contacts the female terminal at the region where the pair of resilient piece portions are closest to each other. This female terminal includes the resilient piece portions and the support portion supporting the resilient piece portions, and further includes a wire connecting portion to which a wire is connected, and a protective portion which covers at least the male terminal-inserting side of the distal end portions of the pair of resilient piece portions, and has an opening through which the male terminal to be inserted between the pair of resilient piece portions is passed (see, for example, JP-UM-A-6-72169, Page 2, FIGS. 1 and 2 and JP-A-7-307181, Page 3, FIGS. 1 to 3).
In the female terminal having the pair of resilient strip portions disposed the closest to each other at their distal end portions, a point of contact between the female terminal and the male terminal (inserted in this female terminal) is disposed at the region where the pair of the resilient piece portions are the closest to each other. In the female terminal having the pair of resilient strip portions disposed the closest to each other at their distal end portions, the contact point is thus disposed at the distal end portions into which the male terminal is inserted, and therefore a contact margin of the male terminal (that is, the length from the contact point to the front end of the male terminal obtained when each male terminal is inserted into the corresponding female terminal to connect a mating electric connector to the electric connector or to connect an electric part to the electric connector) can be made longer as compared with other types of female terminals. Since the contact margin of the male terminal is relatively long, the stability of attaching of the electric connector or the electric part, provided with the male terminals, to the electric connector provided with the female terminals, as well as the reliability of electrical connection therebetween, is enhanced regardless of the shape of the electric connector or the electric part provided with the male terminals.
One example of such female terminals is the type of female terminal formed by bending a single shaped metal sheet of electrical conductivity (see, for example, JP-UM-A-6-72169, Page 2, FIGS. 1 and 2).
When the above female terminal is to be inserted into a cavity (that is, a space for receiving the female terminal) in a housing of the electric connector, the female terminal must be properly inserted into this cavity. A lance is formed in the cavity, and is fixedly secured at one end thereof to one surface of the cavity, and has a retaining portion formed at the other end (free end) thereof. The female terminal, when inserted into the cavity in the housing, is engaged with the retaining portion of the lance, and therefore is retained and fixed within the cavity. Therefore, unless the female terminal is inserted in the cavity in such a manner that an engagement portion of the female terminal for engagement with the retaining portion of the lance is directed toward the lance, the female terminal is not retained within the cavity. In case the female terminal is not retained within the cavity, the male terminal pushes the female terminal out of the cavity when trying to insert the male terminal into the female terminal. Thus, various troubles, such as the failure to insert the male terminal into the female terminal, are encountered.
Thus, when the female terminal is mounted in a wrong direction in the cavity, the various troubles occur, and therefore it is necessary to provide measures for ensuring that the female terminal will not be mounted in the cavity in a wrong condition, that is, in such a manner that the engagement portion of the female terminal for engagement with the retaining portion of the lance is not directed toward the lance. However, the conventional female terminal is not provided with any means for preventing the female terminal from being mounted in a wrong condition within the cavity.
To deal with this problem, the inventors of the present invention have proposed to form a wide part at an interconnecting portion interconnecting the protective portion and the support portion, the wide part being formed at that portion of the interconnecting portion disposed adjacent to the protective portion, and being larger in width than the remainder of the interconnecting portion. With this construction, the wide part is provided at one surface (side) of the front end portion of the female terminal. Therefore, the above inventors have proposed to form an abutment portion in a projected manner on a wall surface of the cavity, and when the female terminal is inserted into the cavity in the housing in a wrong condition, the wide part of the interconnecting portion of the female terminal abuts against this abutment portion, thereby preventing the female terminal from being mounted in the cavity of the housing in the wrong condition.
In order that the abutment portion, formed within the cavity, should not prevent the insertion of the properly-inserted female terminal and that the abutment portion can be easily formed at the time of forming the resin-molded housing by the use of a mold, it is preferred that the abutment portion be formed on the wall surface of the cavity in a projected manner. Therefore, in order that the wide part of the interconnecting portion of the female terminal can positively abut against the abutment portion to prevent the insertion of the female terminal into the cavity in the housing, the wide part of the interconnecting portion of the female terminal need to have such a width as to abut against the abutment portion formed on and projecting from the wall surface of the cavity.
However, in a developed condition of the female terminal formed by bending a single shaped metal sheet of electrical conductivity, the interconnecting portion is formed between the pair of resilient piece portions in parallel relation thereto. Therefore, the width of the wide part of the interconnecting portion can not be made larger than the distance between opposed side edges of the resilient piece portions disposed close to the interconnecting portion, and thus the width of the wide part of the interconnecting portion is limited by the distance between those side edges of the resilient piece portions disposed close to the interconnecting portion, and in some cases the wide part of the interconnecting portion can not be formed into the necessary width. Therefore, in order that the wide part of the interconnecting portion of the female terminal can positively abut against the abutment portion formed in a projected manner within the cavity of the housing so as to prevent the female terminal from being mounted in a wrong direction within the cavity, it is necessary that the width of the wide part of the interconnecting portion should not be limited by the distance between those side edges of the resilient piece portions disposed close to the interconnecting portion.
To deal with this problem, it may be proposed to increase the length of the interconnecting portion so that the wide part will not be disposed between the pair of resilient piece portions. However, when the length of the interconnecting portion is thus increased, the distance from those portions (male terminal-contacting portions) of the pair of resilient piece portions for contact with the male terminal to the protective portion is increased, and the contact margin of the male terminal is decreased by an amount corresponding to the amount of increase of the distance from the male terminal-contacting portions of the pair of resilient piece portions to the protective portion, and this is undesirable.